Draymond Green: ‘Joel’s the hardest guy to guard in the league’

Mar 25, 2023 - 5:44 AM

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Another night, another dominant, MVP-caliber performance from Joel Embiid. It unfortunately came in a losing effort as the Sixers fell to the Warriors Friday night in San Francisco.

It wasn’t from a lack of effort from Embiid. The star big man dropped 46 points on the defending champs to go along with nine rebounds and eight assists. He finished the game +13 ... in an eight-point loss.

As the MVP debate rages on — emphasis on rage for some folks — Draymond Green found himself in Embiid’s crosshairs. The former Defensive Player of the Year recently said that two-time MVP Nikola Jokic was the hardest player in the league to guard.

Apparently, Embiid took that personally.

Of course that comment evokes the Michael Jordan Last Dance meme.

The way we know Embiid was (mostly) kidding is that he’s been doing this to everyone. Before not playing in the second half of the Sixers’ blowout loss to the Bulls, Embiid had put up 10 straight 30-point games, a franchise record. The MVP favorite is the reigning two-time East Player of the Week and seems well on his way to winning a third Player of the Month award for March.

We’ll see if Embiid gets a night off to rest his right calf or plays the second half of the team’s back-to-back Saturday night in Phoenix. A matchup with Jokic and the Nuggets in Denver looms Monday night.